Orphaned
by Paladinian Knight
Summary: What happens when three special babies are found on the doorstep of an orphanage? And how will this affect their lives? Read to find out more.
1. Prologue

Paladin: Hello, all ye who have remained faithful to me.

Yam: Which isn't that many.

Ari: Am I the only one who notices the absence of two extremely annoying American doppelgangers?

Rai: No, I noticed it too. Where are they?

Paladin: Oh, they went back to America, saying something like "It's too cold here," or "We aren't accepted," or something.

Ari: Aww, I'm gonna miss that hot-head.

Yam: And senor Eraser. He always left hair in my room though, so I won't miss that aspect.

Rai: You guys are lucky. Paladin made you copies yet I don't even have one, and he doesn't even consider how _I_ feel! (Rai turns emo and starts cutting himself)

Ari: See what you did Paladin? It's okay S-Rai. (Ari starts to cry)

Yam: Well, since everyone else is having an emotional breakdown, I don't want to be left out.

Paladin: What am I going to do with them? I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, those rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi, yadayada, Sol and Shadow may or may not be coming back into these authors note, it just depends on how I feel. And yes, Ari still has his powers. Life'd be very boring without some fire to spice up the day. (Note: "regular speech" 'ari-yam' (yam-ari) :rai-yam: {yam to rai} /ari-rai/ \rai-ari\ [author's notes])

Orphaned Prologue

Orphanage Owner POV

It was a rainy night, and I had just closed up the orphanage for the night and had just sent the four kids, Seto, Joey, Yami, and Yugi, and the baby, Mokuba, who is five years younger than all of them, whom are five, to bed, and had just sat down with a nice cup of hot cocoa and a newspaper when I heard a knock on the door.

'That's odd,' I thought to myself, 'No one should be here at this hour. I'll go check to see who it is.'

I folded the newspaper and rose from my chair, my slippered feet gliding soundlessly across the tile floor, and to my surprise, when I opened the door, I found three orphaned babies, swaddled with care in linen sheets, lying in a basket on the wet floor.

With them was a note. I hastily picked it up and read aloud to no one in particular.

"To whom this may concern,

"You have my sincerest apologies for burdening you with my three children, Sol, Yam, and Rai, at this hour of night, but they have special... needs that need to be accounted for that I cannot let them out of my sights, no matter how young they are.

"I had heard from some of my colleagues that you were the right person for the job, and they gave me your address, so it is my hope that you can take care of them until the time arises that I might be able to take them home with me unless a family has already adopted them, Ra forbid that to happen.

"I hope that under your car their skills may flourish and they may learn to control them as to not put others in harms way, and to save them.

"Thank you, and I am sincerely sorry"

"Ishizu"

That note made my heart break, hearing that someone expected not to have to have vigilance with three children, but it still made me want to help her.

I noticed that one of them, I presume it was Rai due to his golden lightning bolts running through his hair, that and the brighter-than-gold irises, sneezed, causing me to bring them in.

Which is the beginning of my life with them.


	2. Chapter 1

******Paladin: That was just a prologue people, so I'm sorry if you found it bad. I tried to put as much stuff as I could without giving too much away, even though you already know about Ari.  
**

******Sol: Duh! Even I could see that.  
**

******Ari: SOL! You're back! I missed you so much.  
**

******Shadow: What about me?  
**

******Yam and Rai: SHADOW!  
**

******Sol: Gosh, gone for one chapter due to being pushed ONTO A PLANE THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO GO ON, and we become everyone's idol.  
**

******Shadow: We should do that more often.  
**

******Ari, Yam, and Rai: (flames in eyes) DO THAT AGAIN AND YOU DIE!  
**

******Sol and Shadow: Gulp...  
**

******Paladin: I knew there was a reason why I put them on that flight. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.  
**

Orphaned Ch. 1

Ari POV

*13 years later*

**"Race ya home!" Mokuba yelled, rushing ahead of us. We all knew this competition was pointless seeing as me and my two twin brothers could just whip out our wings and fly ahead of him.**

You read right. WIngs. You know, those feathery limbs that birds have? Yeah, we have them too.

I'm Ari En, a Japanese boy that has stark white hair, crimson eyes, and the uncanny ability to catch on fire whenever my emotions get jacked up. My two fraternal twins, who are near identical twins to each other, are Yam En and Rai En. Yam has pitch black hair, hypnotizing blood-red eyes, and the uncanny ability to turn into a werewolf whenever he wants. I think I read in a book somewhere that they were called Erasers, in a book series called Maximum Ride or something [which I don't own], but I never thought he could actually be other brother, Rai, has raven-colored hair with two golden lightning bolts running through it, he has golden eyes, and he has the ability to be as fast as light. And all three of us have wings.

But we didn't use our powers to give us an edge since we knew we were faster than Mokuba when we were walking. But we ran to see who was the fastest of us three.

Thirteen years ago, to the day, had been our "brother's" fifth birthday, making Yami the third to move out of the adoption agency, Yugi going next. And soon it'll just be us four.

Unsurprisingly, as it is everyday, us three had a tie while Mokuba came in last place.

We stepped in to the joyful atmosphere where Yami's party was taking place, and Seto and Joey had even come back to celebrate. Some of their friends had come to celebrate along with us- Marik Ishtar; Bakura Akefia; Tristan Taylor; Tea Gardener, whom was a word-that-I'm-not-supposed-to-know-yet-and-if-I-said-it-I-would-get-in-big-trouble- and Marik and Bakura even brought over their little brothers who were my age- Ryou Akefia an Malik Ishtar [I am sorry if its the other way around, but the Marik/Malik subject is not something I excel at.]- so we at least had some people to play with.

Though it wouldn't be necessary since the main party game was everyone's favorite: Duel Monsters. And so far, my two brothers and I were unbeatable, even by ourselves. So it was obvious who everybody wanted on their team when we played.

And we soaked it up, because we loved being wanted. We loved the attention.

Because deep inside, we were still insecure children scared that people will abandon us just like our mother.


	3. Chapter 2

Paladin: Aww, look at the cute chibi Ari!

Rai: Aww, you were so cute! (pinches Ari's cheek)

Ari: (slaps hand away) Paladin, you are so dead!

Yam: Don't get your trousers in a bunch. He's just having some fun.

Paladin: Ooh! And here's Yam when he was a baby!

Yam: You are so dead!

Ari: Relax, he's just having some fun.

Sol: He doesn't have pictures of us when we were kids.

Paladin: Or do I?

Shadow: I thought we burned them all!

Paladin: Nope, you didn't!

Rai: Get him!

Paladin: No, the pictures are mine! I shall use them for blackmail! Mwahahahaha!

Shadow: Paladin doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but he will own his right to death.

Orphaned Ch.2

Yam POV

We soon started the party "games," and everybody rushed to face other people, not to our surprise. But since there were eleven other people at the party, not counting our "mother," one other person had to face one of us, which obviously ended in defeat. For them, not for us, otherwise we wouldn't be the kings of duel monsters. Or any game as a matter of fact. I mean, we don't each have the title "Yu-Gi-Oh" for no reason. But there must be a reason for our awesome gaming skills.

Unlucky Mokie was the one who had to face me, my two siblings facing each other unnecessarily, and within moments I'd won. [Don't ask me for the major details of the duel, because I'm having one big splurge for the last duel. Or Yami/Yugi's duels against my characters.] Which then brought us to the second round, with Ari, Rai, me, Yami, Seto, Joey, Yugi, and Bakura all advancing.

And guess who I had to face? Mr. "King of Games," as he likes to call himself even though he has never beaten me, nor my brothers, _once_!

"Let's duel!" We said in unison. It went all downhill from there for him.

Yami:4000  
Yam:4000

"Birthday privileges Yami, you go first." I mocked.

"Oh, sooo generous." Yami stuck out his tongue at me like an immature person would do, and let's face it, he might be 18, but everyone, no matter the age, loves to just let loose and act immature every once in awhile. "I draw!" He obviously _drew_ a card, simply glanced at it, and I could practically see the gears in his head spinning as he tried formulating a plan to allow him not to lose so horribly. "I set one monster in defense mode, and I set three cards. I then proceed to activate swords of revealing light, preventing you from attacking me for your next three turns."

"Big deal you know that I rarely attack. I mainly deal effect damage, so that was just a waste of card space." I was nearly laughing at his weak attempt to save himself. Yet, he's smarter than that. _What is he hiding?_ [I forgot to add that _italics_ are thoughts, my bad!] For now, all I can do is bide my time and see what his master plan is. "I draw!" I drew my card, and I drew Hinotama, a spell card that deals 500 damage to my opponent. In my hand I had Mystical Beast Cerberus, a monster with 1400 atk/1400 def, and he gains 500 atk every time a spell card is activated; Ookazi, a spell card that dishes out 500 damage; Summoned Skull (2500/1000) [sorry if the stats are wrong. But I will keep them constant so it won't be 2500/1000 one time, then 3000/500 the next, unless it has a bonus on it or something.]; pot of greed; horn of the unicorn, an equip spell-card that gives the monster it's equipped to, hence the name "equip spell-card," a 700 atk point boost.

_Okay. If I summon Cerberus, then I could hit him hard with hinotama and ookazi to hit him hard and equip cerberus with my horn, then use my pot to draw two cards. Cerberus will be at... 4100 atk points then, practically unstoppable._

"Okay, I summon my Mystical Beast Cerberus-"

"Not so fast. I activate trap hole, so your Cerberus gets destroyed." Grr, I knew I should've been more cautious. But oh well. I haven't lost yet, and I'm not planning on it now.

"Fine. I activate pot of greed to draw two more cards." I drew Kuriboh and my sparks. "I activate my sparks to deal 200 damage to you-"

"Which I counter with Waboku, meaning I take no damage this turn, no matter what. Beat that." I could've sworn I was facing Yami, but he gave me one of the smirks Seto would've. It was sort of unnerving as much as it was a little creepy.

"Grr. I end my turn." This was not going good.

'Want me to help you?'

(No thanks Ari, I got this. Just focus on your duel.)

'What duel?'

(Nevermind.) I was a little bit pissed that I was in second place behind Ari when it came to lady luck. But my strategy was infallible, no matter how long it takes.

"I draw, and I activate card destruction, meaning that we each discard all of our cards and draw the same amount." Good-bye Kuriboh.

I got rid of my five cards to draw five new ones (Monster Reborn; Inferno Tempest, which is a quick-play spell-card that activates when I take 3000 or more damage in a single attack, and my opponent loses 2000 LP; Self-destruct Button [which I plan on changing its effect from "whenever your life points are 7000 lower than your opponent's, the duel is a tie" to "blah-blah-blah 3000 lower yada-yada-yada" for my own purposes] ; Wall of Revealing Light; and my Mystical Space Typhoon), while Yami drew his one. Yet with that one he could change the tide of the battle.

"Next, I sacrifice my Big Shield Gardna to summon my Curse of Dragon."

Curse of Dragon: 2000/1000

"Now, my dragon, attack!"

Yami: 4000 LP  
Yam: 2000 LP

"I'll see what you do this turn. Your move."

'There's no way you can win.'

(But there is a way for me to tie.)

I drew my card, which was Diskblade Rider, a Fiend-type monster that gained 500 atk every time I removed-from-play a normal spell-card by his effect, and summoned him, getting rid of sparks to make him 1900/500 now. I then set two traps, which were Wall of Revealing Light and Self-Destruct Button, and ended my turn, feeling quite confident that there was no way for me to lose.

"My move. I draw, and I activate my Giant Trunade-" _It's now or never._

"Not so fast! First I activate my Wall of Revealing Light, giving up 1000 of my life points to keep any of your monsters weaker than that from attacking, then I activate my Self-Destruct Button to tie the duel."

Yami: 3000 LP  
Yam: 1000 LP

"Why isn't it changing?!" I was getting a little hysterical.

"Because I activated Seven-Tools of the Bandit to negate your Self-Destruct Button. Which means you did that all for naught. Now, my dragon, attack his Rider!"

Yami: 3000 LP  
Yam: 900 LP

_No, I can't lose! I mustn't lose! I shan't lose! I will win!_

I got enveloped in this dark aura that filled me with unimaginable power.

_No more gods, no more graves  
__Are you friend or fiend?_

"My move!" I drew my best card that I swore I'd never use again, but Yami forced my hand.

_No more life, no more death  
__Somewhere in between_

"This is it!"

'Yam, don't! There has to be another way!'

(There is not another way! I must win!)

'Who are you?'

_Well, we're almost dead  
__Almost dead  
__Almost dead to the world  
__Almost dead, almost dead  
__Almost dead to the world_

"I activate the Seal of Orichalcos field spell card." I cackled maniacally as the symbol drew itself on the floor, blowing away the floating swords on my side of the field. [bear with me, I know that isn't one of its effects, but the good thing about being a fanfic author is that I can distort reality]

"No!" Ari tried rushing to me, but he started too late, because by the time he reached me, the seal was complete.

_Heaven can't save us  
__Hell is a joke_

"Now, I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Mystical Beast Cerberus, who now is at 1900 atk thanks to my little seal, and I equip him with Horn of the Unicorn."

Cerberus: 3100 atk

"Now, I attack your Curse of Dragon!"

Yami: 1900  
Yam: 900

"Yam, stop this! You're going to kill him!" Ari was screaming at me with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry brother, but I must do whatever it takes to win, to uphold out title and our honor-"

"What does a stupid title matter when it'll cost losing my brother?!"

_No place left to go  
__What you see you can not believe  
__But when we rise you'll know_

"I need to win!" I said, my voice being distorted by the countless demons residing in my soul.

"You need to tie! Please, Yam! For me." Ari ran to our "mother" crying, our "mom" whispering in hushed tones how everything was going to be all right.

_Well, we're almost dead  
__Almost dead  
__Almost dead to the world  
__Almost dead, almost dead  
__Almost dead to the world_

"Your move Yami, unless you want to give up now."

"I don't know the meaning of give up. My move. I set one monster in defense mode, set one card, and end my turn."

"My move. I summon my Blast Magician in attack mode and attack your face down with it."

Blast Magician: 2100 atk  
Big Shield Gardna: 2600 def  
Yam: 400 LP

"Fine. Now that your Gardna is in attack due to its ability, I attack it with my Cerberus for the kill."

"Not so fast. I activate negate attack, keeping my Gardna safe and ending the battle phase."

"Grr. I HATE losing!"

_Well, we're almost dead  
__Almost dead  
__Almost dead to the world  
__Almost dead, almost dead  
__Almost dead to the world_

Yami drew a card, a card that might change everything, which it did, since it's him I'm facing. "I activate the spell card Dark Hole, which destroys every monster on the field." Leaving him wide open as well as me, but knowing him, he has a trick up his sleeve.

_Well, we're almost dead_

"I draw, and I activate my blue medicine, giving me back 400 LP

Yam: 800 LP

'Yam, stop this madness!'

(What do you think I'm trying to do, and who do you think you are telling me what to do?)

'You're lost Yam. I don't know who you are anymore.'

With both Ari's pleas of help and the darkness that was enveloping me, it was too much for me to take, so I fainted.

[Almost Dead- Crush 40]


	4. Chapter 3

Paladin: Well, I think I should put this for at least of one of my fanfics.

Sol: What are you talking about?

Paladin: An explanation for why I haven't been writing.

Ari: Let me guess, it has something to do with being abducted by evil fangirls that made you watch anime that had yaoi and moe in it.

Paladin: Psht, no. I did that on my own. It was the winter break and I just haven't gotten back into the swing of things.

Yam: So in other words, you're going to make me wake up in a hospital and find that I have an evil spirit in my body.

Rai: I'm positive.

Shadow: Am I going to be the evil spirit?

Paladin: Guys, I haven't even said anything about evil spirits! They don't exist, just like you guys.

Sol: Aww, Paladin doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Orphaned Ch.3

Rai POV

"Yam!" I screamed, running to his aid, checking his heartbeat, his breathing, everything normal, and then we decided to call an ambulance when we found that he was okay.

"It's going to be okay Rai." Ari told me, being the strong one in the family since we all knew that I was going to break down. "He'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive. We'll visit him in the hospital, and we'll be the first ones he sees when he wakes up, and he'll smile at us and he'll be good to go." Little did we know that couldn't be any more wrong.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Doctor, what's wrong with him?" Seto asked.

"We don't know. His vital signs are all good, he shows no sign of internal damage, he's the picture of health-"

"So what are you saying? That he spontaneously contracted a disease that caused him to faint and he can't wake up?" Yami asked.

"We can't tell." The doctor stated.

"His soul's gone." Ari stated.

"What did you say?" The doctor and Seto asked.

"He lost his soul to whatever darkness that was controlling him during that duel. The only reason he's still alive is because he's still fighting, but he's slowly losing the battle."

"Is there anything we can do to help him?" I asked.

"Unless you mind leaving your body behind to go to the realm of the unknown, then yes." Yami replied.

"No, I am not losing you two as well. I forbid it!" Our "mother" said.

"We're sorry, but there are just times when we have to disobey direct orders for the ones we love. And this is one of those times." Ari spoke. Little did we know that that would be the last time we saw our family in the natural world.


	5. Chapter 4

Paladin: Well, I've been revolving stories, and I do believe it's about time I got back to this one.  
Yam: So, what's the spirit world going to look like?  
Paladin: Haven't thought about that yet. But I do know that it has a good chance of being dark and scary.  
Ari: Meaning what exactly?  
Sol: Obviously rainbows and fluffy bunnies. I mean, come on! This is Paladin we're talking about for pete's sake!  
Rai: True.  
Shadow: But one can only wonder if he actually means what he said?  
Paladin: My dear Shadow, when have I ever said anything I didn't mean?  
Yam: Let's see, how about often?  
Paladin: Fine, let me rephrase it. When have i said something that I didn't mean to a certain extent?  
Ari: Never?  
Paladin: EXACTLY! I no own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Orphaned Ch. 4  
Ari POV

We were taken back to the house, back to Yami's room, where he cleared out a decent space for us- meaning Rai, him, and I- to sit down after he drew a circle with a weird shape inside of it, and he lit candles with purple and blue flames on the vertices of the shape.

When I asked what it was and how he knew what to do, he only answered by saying that he "dabbled a bit in dark magic," so it made me wonder if he's not the source of our problem.

Before he left us alone in the room, he gave us specific instructions. "Hold each other's hands no matter what unless you want to be separated, and do not step foot outside of the circle until it fully disappears, or you'll be far beyond my reach to get you back. And should all go well, I should see you guys back soon." When he closed he door, I felt a breeze that blew out every candle, and due to the lack of windows, the room was shed into complete darkness, leaving my imagination to wander aimlessly. Soon, the circle and shape we were sitting in started to glow, and I felt dizzy watching the shape on the inside spin and spin, creating a vortex of air, supposedly, yet it felt more like solid rock pressing against me with the pressure, and I soon found out that it hurt to breathe.

I contemplated on letting go to steady myself, but I thought better of it by heading my foster-brother's warning.

I closed my eyes, hoping that the feelings would be gone soon, yet that only brought about nausea, and I felt sick. I think I had heard Rai call to me over the vortex of air, but I couldn't be sure.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pressure and dizziness stopped, as did the noise, and I opened my eyes, staring into Rai's face in front of a dark-skyed scene with lush green grass. No doubt, the scenery continued all around, for it felt like I was being drawn into the darkness by just staring at it right then, so I forced myself to focus on the gradually fading chalk lines in the grass, until all but one of them had faded.

I didn't know whether or not I trusted my voice right now, but I needed to get Rai up. "Rai." I whispered to him. "Get up. We're here."

"Huh?" He finally stirred, and his breath caught in his throat when he opened his eyes, probably taking in the sight of the darkness around us, the lush grass, and I could tell that he was getting lost in the darkness as I did.

"Rai. Look at me." When he did, I could see the color visibly returning to his face, as if he was quickly recovering from some unknown disease. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I could hear voices." He told me. "Their screams of agony, their shouts of pain, their moans of sorrow, all of it coming from the darkness. It scared me. It made me feel cold inside."

"It's okay now. As long as you don't look at it too long, you should be fine. Now come on, we've got a brother to find." I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the supposedly dissolved shape, yet one little mark was let in the grass, and I could feel an invisible thread break, though I just chalked it up to paranoia, and I moved onward, leading my last brother through the darkness.

_In the grass behind us, however, eight words were drawn out of the remaining chalk, before being blown away. They shall be trapped in the darkness forever._


End file.
